Independent Spirit Award Nominees

With big helpings of love for Beginners, Drive, The Artist, The Descendants, and Take Shelter, it seems like this year more than most, the independents could already be a force to be reckoned with right out of the gate. Can they survive the gauntlet to Oscar? A storm is brewing.

Best Picture

50/50
Beginners
Drive
Take Shelter
The Artist
The Descendants

Best Director

Mike Mills, Beginners
Nicholas Winding Refn, Drive
Jeff Nichols, Take Shelter
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants



Best Lead Actor

Demian Bichir, A Better Life
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Ryan Gosling, Drive
Woody Harrelson, Rampart
Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
 
Best Lead Actress

Lauren Ambrose, Think of Me
Rachel Harris, Natural Selection
Adepero Oduye, Pariah
Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn 

Best Supporting Actor

Albert Brooks, Drive
John Hawkes, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
John C. Reilly, Cedar Rapids
Corey S. Toll, Midnight in Paris


Best Supporting Actress

Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter
Angelica Huston, 50/50
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Harmony Santa, Gun Hill Road
Shaileen Woodley, The Descendants


John Cassavetes Award (made for under $500,000)


Bellflower
Circumstance
Hello Lonesome
Pariah
The Dynamiter

Best Documentary

An African Selection
Bill Cunningham New York
The INterrupters
The Redemption of General Butt Naked
We Were Here

Best International Film

A Separation
Melancholia
Shame
The Kid With a Bike
Tyrannosaur

Best Cinematography

Joel Hodge, Bellflower
Benjamin Kuh-Sulk, The Off Hours
Darius Kond-Jee, Midnight in Paris
Gui-omme Shiffman, The Artist
Jeffrey Waldron, The Dynamiter


Best First Screenplay

Mike Cahill and Brit Marling, Another Earth
J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
Patrick DeWitt, terri
Phil Johnston, Cedar Rapids
Will Reiser, 50/50


Best Screenplay

Joseph Cedar, FootNote
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Tom McCarthy, Win Win
Mike Mills, Beginners
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, The Descendants 

Robert Altman Award
For one film's director, casting director, and ensemble
Margin Call